When last we left our useless rich guy and tall caretaker, our caretaker realized he was being used.
Zi Xiang does not take Shao Peng leaving well
He throws himself onto Shao Peng’s bag as he packs. Shao Peng signs at him angrily, but Zi Xiang doesn’t understand. This makes me think about Zi Xiang saying employers have all the power in episode one. Not in this case, because Zi Xiang cares, if too late.
After Shao Peng leaves, Zi Xiang sees notes about his food likes and dislikes. I’m pretty sure no one has ever paid that much attention to his feelings.
At home, Shao Peng lies to his mom that the job is over. Shu He comes over and they drink to celebrate him finishing his first job. He gets drunk and the women have to get him into bed.
His mom is worried he got fired. She feels guilty because she didn’t notice his deafness after a medication injection and missed the chance for emergency treatment. I wasn’t diagnosed as hard of hearing until I was 6, these things happen. Shu He reminds her that they want to look ahead, not back.
Zi Xiang doesn’t want to order food anymore
Nor does he want to work. But he does want Feng Jie to take him to Shao Peng’s.
Shao Peng closes the door in Zi Xiang’s face again. His mom figures out it’s his boss and shoves Shao Peng out the door and at Zi Xiang to buy salt. Zi Xiang will take him to buy salt. She tells them to take their time. Best Mom.
They walk to a park where Zi Xiang sits Shao Peng down so he can apologize. He’s put together a cute set of illustrations on his tablet, detailing his regrets. He wants Shao Peng to come back and finish the job. When it’s done, he gets on his knees to beg.
Shao Peng lets Zi Xiang sit with him on the bench and asks about the pictures. Zi Xiang likes drawing. Using his tablet to write, Zi Xiang explains his family situation. He wants his cousin, who he calls brother, to take over the family business. But his dad doesn’t like him and only hears what he wants to hear.
Zi Xiang calls himself useless. Shao Peng thinks he loves his dad and doesn’t want to disappoint him. He can’t resist the poor rich guy that is Zi Xiang, and agrees to come back.
Shao Peng still gets a little revenge
By emotionally blackmailing Zi Xiang into eating vegetables he doesn’t like. For the first time, Zi Xiang realizes that Shao Peng can read lips and feels guilty. As penance and to prove himself, he eats the vegetables.
Shao Peng agrees to be friends and pats his head. Zi Xiang is overwhelmed with feelings but tries to hide it.
Meanwhile, Feng Jie gets attacked by Xin Jia, who wants his knife back. Feng Jie grabs him and gives him advice on how to attack people and makes suggestive statements. Xin Jia makes useless threats and runs away.
A man in a black hoodie saw the whole thing. He’s watching Feng Jie to get to Zi Xiang.
A bench conversation so important we get more of it
We flashback to Zi Xiang telling Shao Peng that his mom passed away and his childhood was about preparing to take over the business. His father only listened to him when working. Zi Xiang says when Shao Peng listens to him it feels like the most important thing in the world.
He writes out the word freedom because that’s what he wants. But he can only passively resist.
Shao Peng teaches him the sign for his name, “to fly”. He reassures him he’ll get the freedom he wants, and shows him the signs “freedom” and “dreams come true”.
Meanwhile, Feng Jie is fending off men at the bar, but keeping an eye out for someone. When the bartender says he hasn’t seen Xin Jia in a while, Feng Jie leaves. Black hoodie guy follows him, but Xin Jia appears suddenly and gets in the way.
Feng Jie ties Xin Jia to a pillar in the hotel room where they had sex. He threatens him with his knife, trying to find out who sent him. Xin Jia proves he’s not totally useless, bashing Feng Jie in the head and breaking free.
But he cannot stab Feng Jie. He takes his watch and wallet and leaves.
The next day, Shao Peng hands Feng Jie ice for his head
It’s a full house, Shu He comes over with business and sees Shao Peng. She drags him away to ask what he’s doing there. Shao Peng realizes her useless boss is Zi Xiang and defends him. Their signs devolve into teasing, while Zi Xiang watches. That night he jealously starts learning sign language.
Later, Shao Peng helps him and is impressed by how fast he catches on. Zi Xiang is good at language, and sign is Shao Peng’s language. Shao Peng is touched.
Zi Xiang’s back is sore and Shao Peng thinks it’s from sleeping in the closet. Zi Xiang is surprised he knows and explains that it’s the only way he can fall asleep. When he was little he’d sleep there and imagine himself on a boat, free from his father’s control. Now he has a tattoo of a boat on his arm.
Time for a sudden fall kiss! Their hearts pound.
Zi Xiang tells Shao Peng he’s starting work on Monday. Shao Peng correctly guesses he’s figured out how to handle his family.
Zi Ziang asks if he resents that he can’t hear. Shao Peng lost his hearing so long ago that he doesn’t remember sound. There’s no sense of loss and nothing to resent. He just thinks of how to live and handle things.
Zi Xiang feels that if Shao Peng can face his situation, it would be shameful for him to run away.
Shao Peng gets a message on his phone that makes him smile. Zi Xiang gets jealous and tries to read over his shoulder. Their faces get close and they remember the fall kiss. Intense staring!
I hate fall kisses, but I love these guys
Last episodes, I wrote about Shao Peng missing things because he’s deaf. I relate to that more than Zi Xiang’s prison of wealth, but I understand that’s why he missed Shao Peng’s kindness. He was too focused on his self-destructive efforts to escape.
The show is light-hearted, but the idea of a child so stressed that he sleeps in the closet is horrifying.
Zi Xiang had to stop putting him off and acting like the useless rich guy to win Shao Peng back. He finally revealed real things about himself, his situation, and how he feels. Shao Peng seems naturally empathetic, even toward a brat like Zi Xiang, but that’s different from understanding him.
It’s cute that Zi Xiang started learning sign language out of jealousy, but his desire to finally communicate with Shao Peng is so strong I think he would have started learning no matter what.
I like to guess when characters fall in love. The dramatic rescue in the previous episodes feels like where Zi Xiang fell hard, but he’s realizing it in these episodes. I think Shao Peng is behind him a little in romantic feelings but is moved by Zi Xiang’s efforts to understand him.
And the fall kiss of course.
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